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Tena kotou katoa, dear Our Waiheke supporters Since quite a few of us gathered late in November at the MORRA Hall to hear the decision of the Local Government Commissioners about our application for a Waiheke Unitary Council, the decision has weighed heavily with me. Frankly for the first few weeks after we were turned…

Waiheke has been chafing under Auckland based council management since we lost a local council in1989. A scan of our local papers over the intervening years will provide ample proof of the many occasions we have protested planning and other decisions made ‘offshore’. After Waiheke developed an award winning District Plan in the 1980’s, it…

Below is a comparison of 6 small councils around New Zealand with similar population size of Waiheke and what their costs are. In all cases Waiheke has the most income and the least infrastructure. We have included the Our Waiheke possible budget figures and have included the Morrison Low council forecast figures to show how…

Having a Council that represents local democracy, value for money and does a great job is what everyone wants in a Council. Our Waiheke was formed around 3 years ago because Auckland Council has had the lowest satisfaction ratings, is increasing rates continuously and has dis-empowered it locally elected representatives so they are glorified figure…

Suzanne Doig, CEO, Local Government Commission. Our Waiheke response to the Morrison Low “Auckland Reorganisation Process: Auckland Options Assessment” report. Dear Suzanne, Thanks to the LGC for giving Our Waheke an opportunity to access the Morrison Low [ML] report. We have been considering it for some days and, frankly, we believe the report is not…

Dear supporters. You may have seen the story in the Marketplace of 5 July re ‘New action on breakaway bid’. It follows a significant concession by the Local Government Commission [LGC]. For the past few months a consultancy firm, Morrison Low, has been conducting an analysis for the LGC of the financial implications of new…

Chief Executive, Local Government Commission. Dear Suzanne, I am writing on behalf of ‘Our Waiheke’ because Morrison Low should now be at or near the end of its analysis of financials as they relate to the applications to the LGC for North Rodney and Waiheke Unitary Councils. If this is correct – or when…

Two very distinguished Local Government Commissioners will be spending all of Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th of September on Waiheke to hear from what they hope will be a wide range of locals about whether or not the Commission should propose a separate local council for Waiheke. The two Commissioners are the Chair, Sir Wira…

Having governance that is fiscally sensible, accountable, efficient, and responsive to the unique needs of Waiheke is what all Waihekeans want, right? Waiheke is not a suburb of Auckland, it is separate and distinct from Auckland; it is the island that Aucklanders come to when they want to “get away from” Auckland. For too long…

Having governance that is fiscally sensible, accountable, efficient, and responsive to the unique needs of Waiheke is what all Waihekeans want. Well over a year ago, the Our Waiheke team asked our fellow Waihekeans whether they would support a separate Waiheke Council. Our survey showed 64.8% of respondents in favour, and over 1800 people signed…